Gov.'s Plan Would Ditch Bar Advocate System
Gov. Deval Patrick is proposing to replace the state's current method of providing legal counsel to poor defendants, which uses contracted private lawyers, with a fully public system.
The plan would eliminate the existing Committee of Public Counsel Services, which falls under the judicial branch of state government, and replace it with a Department of Public Counsel Services, under the executive branch.
Patrick's office said the plan would save $45 million a year.
The current system employs more than 3,000 private bar advocates, who bill at an hourly rate, to defend 90 percent of the state's caseload. The governor's plan would put attorneys on salary.
The new department would also take on the indigency verification process, which determines whether a defendant can afford the cost of representation. The Patrick administration said that move would tighten controls, reducing the total caseload and increasing collections from those who are able to contribute to the cost of counsel.
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